The University Department That Jack Built

Who knew European colleges offered Jack Your Body 101? Hans T. Zeiner-Henriksen, a student at the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo, wrote a paper for a music conference in Manchester, England in 2006, focusing on the rapid changes in musical technology in the mid- to late-’80s and how they impacted the birth of Chicago house music, the “‘democratization’ process” that let kids with electronic gear update disco with drum machines and what that meant for the structure of the music itself. Familiar stuff for dance fans from a historical perspective, but the school has also posted the paper online with Zeiner-Henriksen’s A/V materials included, featuring some of the more rigorous (audio-enhanced) examinations of the way “simple” Chicago house drum patterns work that I’ve yet encountered. (Or maybe I’m just impressed because whenever I see musical notes on staff paper I am immediately reminded of just how little I understand about the technical side of music.) But it’s like… getting course credit for having an interesting blog! If I had know you could get away with stuff like this, I might not have dropped out.

Chicago House And The “Democratization” Of Music Production [University Of Oslo; HT: Matos]